1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system, apparatus, recording medium, method and computer program for processing information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system, apparatus, recording medium, method, and computer program appropriate for use in receiving broadcast signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Searching for data in databases accumulated in a computer system is a widely accepted practice. A database system performs a search process in response to a keyword input by a user, and provides the user with search results. If the search results provided by the database system to the user are numerous, the user can narrow search by further entering another keyword on the provided information.
The user may like a song in radio-broadcasting and want to obtain information relating to the song. The user may then search for the song using a music database. More specifically, the user searches for the song with a keyword set based on incidental information broadcast together with the song. The incidental information may include the name of the song, the name of an artist playing the song, etc., possibly told by an announcer.
To use the music database, the user cannot obtain desirable results if an appropriate keyword is not input. For example, the user may fail to hear the incidental information such as the name of the song and the name of the artist, and cannot enter an appropriate keyword in the search. In such a case, the user cannot obtain desired information. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-125914 discloses a technique that allows the user to search for a broadcast content without an appropriate keyword. In accordance with this technique, when the user likes a song being broadcast, search conditions are set on a search engine. The search conditions include a broadcasting station broadcasting the song, a place of the broadcasting station, and time of broadcasting. The search engine searches database in accordance with the set search conditions, outputs, as a search result, the name of the song, a name of an album containing the song, a selling agency of the album, and artist information.
In another service, the user may transmit as music data a portion of a song to a server, and the server then compares a feature quantity of transmitted music data with a feature quantity of music data registered on the database thereof, and then provides as search results a name of the song identified by the music data provided by the user.